Vol. 277 Friday, No. 3 18 June 2021. DÍOSPÓIREACHTAÍ PARLAIMINTE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES SEANAD ÉIREANN TUAIRISC OIFIGIÚIL—Neamhcheartaithe (OFFICIAL REPORT—Unrevised) Insert Date Here 18/06/2021A00100Teachtaireacht ón Dáil - Message from Dáil � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 159 18/06/2021A00300Sitting Arrangements: Motion � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 159 18/06/2021A00600Planning and Development (Amendment) (No� 3) Bill 2021: Order for Second Stage � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 160 18/06/2021A01000Planning and Development (Amendment) (No� 3) Bill 2021: Second Stage � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 160 18/06/2021V00100Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 179 SEANAD ÉIREANN Dé hAoine, 18 Meitheamh 2021 Friday, 18 June 2021 Chuaigh an Cathaoirleach i gceannas ar 9.30 a.m. Machnamh agus Paidir. Reflection and Prayer. 18/06/2021A00100Teachtaireacht ón Dáil - Message from Dáil 18/06/2021A00200An Cathaoirleach: Dáil Éireann has passed the Climate Action and Low Carbon Develop- ment (Amendment) Bill 2021, to which the agreement of Seanad Éireann is desired� 18/06/2021A00300Sitting Arrangements: Motion 18/06/2021A00400Senator Seán Kyne: I move: That notwithstanding anything in the Standing Orders relative to Public Business, or the Order of the Seanad of Tuesday, 15th June, 2021, in respect of the sitting of the Seanad on Friday, 18th June, 2021, the business to be taken shall be confined to the items set out in the Schedule to this paragraph and, accordingly, no other business shall be taken unless the Seanad shall otherwise order on motion made by the Leader of the House or such other Senator as she may authorise in that behalf. Schedule Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021 – Order for Second Stage and Second Stage. The Order for Second Stage and Second Stage of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021 shall be taken at 9.30 a.m. and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 75 minutes. The opening contribution of the Minister at the debate on Second Stage shall not exceed 8 minutes, the contribution of all Senators shall not exceed 5 minutes, and the Minister shall be given no less than 8 minutes to reply to the debate. Suspension of Sitting. 159 Seanad Éireann On the conclusion of the proceedings on the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021, the sitting shall be suspended for 15 minutes. Affordable Housing Bill 2021 – Report and Final Stages. The proceedings on the Report and Final Stages of the Affordable Housing Bill 2021 shall be taken on the resumption of the sitting and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion at 5.30 p.m. by one Question, which shall be put from the Chair and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Government; the proceedings shall be interrupted after two hours for 45 minutes and after another two hours for 15 minutes whereupon the sitting shall be suspended on each such occasion to allow for the sanitisation of the Chamber, and the order of debate shall resume thereafter� Question put and agreed to. 18/06/2021A00600Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021: Order for Second Stage Bill entitled an Act to amend the Planning and Development Act 2000; in response to dis- ruption caused by restrictions introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, to provide for an additional period for the preparation of development plans required by planning authorities, that planning authorities may extend the duration of existing development plans pending the preparation and making of new development plans, subject to the requirement to carry out cer- tain environmental assessments, for notification of proposals to extend the duration of existing development plans to the Office of the Planning Regulator and other persons, for the further ex- tension of the duration of the appropriate period of certain planning permissions; and to provide for amendments to section 181 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to include statutory undertakers and to the Fifth Schedule to that Act to provide for an additional condition the im- position of which does not attract compensation; and to provide for related matters� 18/06/2021A00800Senator Seán Kyne: I move: “That Second Stage be taken today.” Question put and agreed to. 18/06/2021A01000Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021: Second Stage Question proposed: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.” 18/06/2021A01200Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Darragh O’Brien): I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce this Bill. I sincerely thank the Seanad for facili- tating the urgent passage of what is very important legislation, and facilitating its passage not just here in the Seanad but starting it here for it to conclude very shortly, before the recess. For this reason I have asked the House to consider a motion to enable the President to sign the Bill earlier than would be routine. 160 18 June 2021 I am bringing forward the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021, as a matter of urgency, in order to address delays and disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic on the completion of construction projects, including housing projects, and for the completion of development plan programmes, in particular having regard to arrangements for consultation with elected members and the public. These are matters that have been raised by Senators and councillors directly with me, and this is a response to ensure that we ease the situation some- what for them� The Bill will also bring forward urgently needed amendments to the ministerial order pro- cedure of the Planning Act to ensure such orders will apply to development by or on behalf of statutory undertakers, and amendments to the Fifth Schedule to the Planning and Development Act 2000� Due to the urgent need for this legislation, I made a request to the Business Committee of the Houses to waive the requirement for pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme by the joint Oireachtas committee. The waiver was granted earlier this week following a briefing ses- sion by my officials with members of the joint Oireachtas committee. With regard to the purpose of Planning and Development (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 2021, the first two provisions I will discuss are proposed in the context of delays and disruptions to certain elements of the planning system due to Covid-19 restrictions and the pandemic itself. The first provision proposes at sections 2 to 6, inclusive, and 8 to allow a planning authority should it so decide - and that will be a decision of the elected members and not the executive - to take an additional period of up to one year over and above the statutory period set out in the Planning and Development Act to prepare a new development plan for their area� Some local authorities have indicated that while they have remained open for business, despite Covid-19 restrictions, and have facilitated public participation in the plan-making process, restrictions have resulted in unavoidable disruption to the development plan programme, in particular the arrangements relating to consultation with elected members and the public. I have had numer- ous examples of that brought to my attention and this is a sensible provision that will enable us to rectify that situation. Public participation, as I have said in this House before, is a core principle of the planning and development system. It requires that people have the opportunity to participate in decisions at both the strategic plan-making and individual planning application levels. The public partici- pation elements of the planning system were previously recognised as an “essential service” in SI 448 of 2020 and, therefore, were not subject to travel restrictions. The mandatory require- ment to hold public meetings, in terms of a proposed development plan, has been replaced with the obligation for planning authorities to consult with members of the public in such a manner as it considers appropriate and also to invite submissions in writing from members of the public on a proposed development plan, which may include the holding of a public meeting. Notwithstanding this, however, some planning authorities have indicated that it has been necessary to delay certain stages of the plan-making process to ensure that the appropriate level of engagement with the planning system can be facilitated with elected members and that other practical matters, which have arisen, can be addressed. As a result, they may not be able to fi- nalise new development plans within the statutory periods set out in the Act. It is, therefore, proposed that where a planning authority requires additional time to prepare 161 Seanad Éireann a new development plan, it would need to consider and set out its reasons for doing so, and extend the duration of its existing development plan accordingly but taking appropriate account of any potential environmental effects, or any effects, on a designated European site which might result. This is a practical measure and I expect that local authority members will know themselves where they need additional time, where they need to pause a development plan or where they need to extend it. This will be brought forward by way of a motion tabled by a member or members on the floor of a council where it will be the members who will decide should the development plan be extended, not the executive, because it is their reserve function. As I have said many times in this House, I am a firm believer in local government. We want to continue to rebalance the powers between our councillors and the executive, and this is a real-life example of doing so but a practical measure as well that I believe will help the process. The second provision in section 7 is grounded in the need to ensure timely delivery of housing, of other projects and the completion of construction projects, in the context of delays caused by Covid-19.